Things Not Seen

I love the way God uses little children to teach us big lessons. My granddaughter Mimi is about to be two years old and she has been a glorious object lesson in my life. Whenever I get to spend time with any of my ten grandkids, it’s always the highlight of my week. But recently, the Lord has used this tiny little bundle of cuteness to get a hold of my perspective. I keep a bottle of bubbles near my coffee pot. I loved bubbles as a child and I still enjoy the simple pleasures they bring. Whenever Mimi and her brother come to Nana’s house, she heads straight for that bottle of bubbles. Forget the toy basket that’s in our living room and the play- dough time lasts only a few minutes. The one thing that brings her hours of joy is blowing bubbles. Her infectious little belly laugh and her fascination as the bubbles float through the air and then pop is for me a tangible reminder of a spiritual reality.

There is so much that God has created to be visible means of not only His existence but His desire to bring us joy. For me, it’s often in His creation. From epic mountainscapes, right down to a tiny ladybug its those things that speak to my heart of the glory and goodness of my God. And every spring when the birds start singing at 5:30am, it never grows old in awakening my heart to the realities of the divine.

We soon realize, however, that our faith must be built upon and remain on things not seen. Every true disciple must come to terms with those hard realities that there is in the wisdom and workings of God an entire world working and operating of which is not given for us to see. Hebrews 11:1 confirms this to be true, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Choose whatever translation you like, the government of God must largely be trusted by faith, not by sight. We know this to be sound theology, but it’s in the daily realities of what we see is where it must work itself out. The believers in this chapter faced everything humanly possible that would fly in the face of faith and mock their hope. But they lived by faith, as seeing Him who is unseen.

There are mysteries that confront us on a human level that will challenge us to the core. When the crowds were laying palm branches on the road as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, they thought they had it right. They shouted, “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” But days later, Jesus looked to be nothing more than a defeated wash up and that same crowd wanted Him crucified. God had planned a deliverance, salvation, and redemption that went beyond man’s wildest notions, it just didn’t look the way they thought.

I recently sat by the bedside of a sweet young mother who gave birth but the baby did not survive. We wept, we prayed and then released that precious little life into the hands of God. This is the crucible of all we know and believe.

Wherever you are at today, take courage! See God in the simple daily things and take time to enjoy the belly laughs and the bubbles of childlike joy. But remember, your faith must rest in every season on the realities of the unseen realm of a Sovereign God!